Eagles News: ‘A Philly Special Christmas’ is a best-selling album

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‘A Philly Special Christmas’ Hits No. 1 on Compilations Chart, Top 10 on Album Sales - Billboard
The charity album A Philly Special Christmas hits the top 10 on four Billboard album charts, including a No. 1 re-entry on the Compilation Albums tally and a No. 9 debut on Top Album Sales. Led by Philadelphia Eagles players Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata, the seven-track set includes renditions of holiday favorites such as “White Christmas” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” All profits from the album benefit Philadelphia’s Children’s Crisis Treatment Center.

Jalen Hurts needs to put an end to the Eagles struggles - BGN
But without Jalen Hurts the Eagles haven’t looked much better. Because of his missed time Jalen Hurts isn’t going to win MVP. Even if healthy, Hurts was highly unlikely to win the award, voters prefer established players and big stats, Hurts had neither going for him this season. The only 25 and under QBs to win MVP were also league leaders: Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes led the league in TDs in 2019 and 2018, Bert Jones led the league in passing yards in 1976, Dan Marino did both in 1984. Hurts’ absence both took him out of whatever contention he was in. But it also strengthened his case as one of the league’s most valuable and important players this season. Gardner Minshew gave a standard issue middling backup QB performance in relief. He was no less effective than Teddy Bridgewater, Cooper Rush, or PJ Walker. It completely erased the notion that Jalen Hurts is a product of the system, and reinforced the idea that Hurts is the system.

The EPA Podcast #11: A brutal performance against the Saints, Kyzir White is a problem for the defense + Eagles need to beat Giants - BGN Radio
Shane Haff shares his thoughts on Damar Hamlin, recaps the Eagles’ brutal performance against the Saints, explains why Kyzir White is a problem for the Birds’ defense and previews the Eagles game against the Giants.

It’s looking more like Brian Daboll and the Giants will rest key starters against the Eagles on Sunday - PhillyVoice
It appears as though some of their best players will get some added rest. Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News hinted strongly at the Giants resting starters. Leonard expanded on that sentiment in an article: “But it appears to be trending toward several starters resting, including banged-up starters like [DL Leonard] Williams (neck) and healthy players, too... By rule, the media is not allowed to report on specific personnel deployment at practice. Candidates to play either a little bit or not at all, though, include players such as quarterback Daniel Jones, running back Saquon Barkley, left tackle Andrew Thomas, center Jon Feliciano, right guard Mark Glowinski, defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and inside linebacker Jaylon Smith, just to name a handful.”

Game Review – Saints 20, Eagles 10 - Iggles Blitz
Let’s start with the obvious…the Eagles played their worst game of the year. They had a very winnable game that would have given them the freedom to rest players in Week 18. Unfortunately, the Eagles played poorly and lost. The biggest reason for the loss is the play of Gardner Minshew. He played well in Dallas so expectations were high on Sunday. Based on the way he played, Minshew might have been high himself. That was a stinker and it hurt the Eagles present and his future. Now the Eagles are in a must-win situation against the Giants. No relaxing or resting players. Win and you get it all (division title, #1 seed). Lose and you are a wild card team and the #5 seed.

Week 18 NFL game picks: Jaguars top Titans to win AFC South; Packers lose to Lions on Sunday night - NFL.com
Despite his Giants being locked into the No. 6 seed, Brian Daboll started the week talking tough about playing starters. By Wednesday, he said the team would make a decision on Friday after talking to the front office. Even if the G-Men are playing their best football this year and are healthier than ever on defense, a fully loaded squad would be no lock to compete for four quarters against the Eagles. My guess is we don’t see a lot of Saquon Barkley or Daniel Jones.

Week 18 NFL Picks Against the Spread - The Ringer
Jalen Hurts was a limited practice participant Thursday, and it sounds like there’s a good chance the Eagles will get him back for this game, although nothing is certain. The Eagles need a win or losses by the Cowboys and 49ers to lock up the no. 1 seed in the NFC. If they lose here and the Cowboys win, the Eagles would fall all the way down to no. 5 and would have to travel to Tampa in the wild-card round. The Giants have nothing to play for here. They’re locked into the no. 6 seed, and even though Brian Daboll won’t come out and say it, it’d be a stunner if they played their starters. The best-case scenario for the Eagles: Hurts returns and looks good. They get the bye and the no. 1 seed. They go into the divisional round with all 11 regular starters on offense healthy and ready to go (this would require right tackle Lane Johnson to come back, in addition to Hurts). I think the Eagles win comfortably, but this is a big number. The pick: Giants (+14)

NFL Week 18 picks against the spread: Vic Tafur’s predictions - The Athletic
Jalen Hurts is almost assuredly back to knock some rust off, while the Giants may not play their starters long as they are locked into their playoff spot. The Eagles’ running game will obviously get a boost with the return of Hurts. With him, they averaged 2.77 yards before contact per carry, had a 50.6 percent success rate and were running into boxes of eight or more 37.2 percent of the time. Without him, that dropped to 0.95 yards before contact per carry, a 33.9 percent success rate and running into boxes of eight or more 46.9 percent of the time. This number has flown up to 14 points, which I think is just disrespectful to Giants backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor. The pick: Giants +14

NFL Week 18 picks, schedule, playoff scenarios, odds, injuries, stats - ESPN
Bold prediction: The Giants keep this game close, despite resting some of their top players. This has been a pesky bunch for the most part, minus the 26-point loss to the Eagles in their previous meeting. Who cares if the Giants are 14-point underdogs in this one? They will give the Eagles fits with that fourth-ranked rushing attack.

Spadaro: How does the offense get back on track Sunday? - PE.com
What they’ve looked at over and over again and are excited to correct on Sunday in this Week 18 game against the Giants are the mistakes they made last week. The pre-snap penalties. The missed assignments. The opportunities not taken advantage of. This is the nature of football: On the path to unattainable perfection, mistakes are made, mistakes are fixed, and performance is restored. “There is no doubt we’re going to get back on track. We have so much talent here and we’ve done it all season,” tight end Dallas Goedert said on Thursday. “The last two weeks haven’t gone the way we wanted them to go, but we’re resilient and we have that dawg mentality and we’re going to bounce back. We’re sitting here in Week 18 playing for the division title, the conference No. 1 seed, and we want to play our kind of football. We killed ourselves last week, a lot of self-inflicted wounds against a good team, a good defense. We’ve just got to go out there and play good football and control what we can control and put a full game together. I’m looking at as a positive that we’re in the position we’re in. It would be great if we can get off to a good start and jump out early and go from there. We want to get into a rhythm on that first drive. When you go three and out, you don’t have many ‘tells’ about what they’re going to do against certain personnel packages that we put out there. It feels like you’re playing catch-up the whole game when you start things that way.”

Quinn hoping to finally live up to trade expectations - NBCSP
“The numbers weren’t there but I felt like I was doing alright,” Quinn said. “But that’s in the past. Hopefully come Sunday, I can get back on track.” The expectations for Quinn won’t be too high but with some uncertainty about Josh Sweat — who suffered a scary neck injury on Sunday but said he’ll return at some point this season — Quinn might be able to help. And he’ll be pretty motivated, especially when the Eagles get into the postseason. Quinn, 32, has been in the NFL since 2011 and has played in just two total playoff games — a loss with the Rams in 2017 and a loss with the Bears in 2020. “I’ll tell you about it when we get to the postseason, when all that happens,” Quinn said. “I don’t want to look too far ahead. … Hopefully, I have a better story for you in a few weeks from now.”

NFL Week 18 picks, predictions: Eagles overwhelming choice to defeat Giants - Big Blue View
Can the New York Giants wreck the Philadelphia Eagles’ hopes of getting the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs with an upset victory Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field? The Giants, already locked in the No. 6 seed and 26-point losers to the Eagles at home four weeks ago, are massive 14-point underdogs. Your Big Blue View staff members, and 99 percent of those who have so far picked the game at Tallysight, are going with the Eagles. Let’s find out why, and check all of our NFL Week 18 picks.

Cowboys face player management decisions against the Commanders - Blogging The Boys
The worst thing of course would be for this game to go right down to the wire, with Dallas having to play as hard as they can to try and secure a win that still could be meaningless overall if Philadelphia tops New York. The schedulers did the Cowboys no favors by having the two games going on simultaneously, although it was a no-brainer for maximizing viewer interest. Some scoreboard watching is going to be inevitable, as a blowout one way or another in the Giants-Eagles game could influence things, especially if Philly is on the winning side of a blowout.

Rivera believes that the Commanders have taken the next step - Hogs Haven
Ron Rivera stated during his Wednesday press conference that his team did some really good things and played pretty good football. Then some things happened that they couldn’t sustain.

UC Medical Center updates the status of Damar Hamlin in his recovery - Buffalo Rumblings
Two of the doctors who revived and continue to support Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin following his cardiac arrest on Monday night took questions for nearly a full hour Thursday afternoon. In a wide-ranging Q&A, they answered about the immediate care on the field, the progress he’s made in the hospital, and his future. They started with the information that’s already been reported: “He’s made substantial improvement,” said Dr. Timothy Pritts of UC Health. “It appears his neurological condition and function is intact. We are very proud to report that. This marks a really good turning point in his ongoing care.”

NFL teams to vote Friday on proposed modification to the AFC playoffs - SB Nation
On Friday, all 32 NFL teams will hold a Special League Meeting to consider a resolution recommended by Commissioner Roger Goodell and approved on Thursday by the league’s Competition Committee to modify the AFC playoffs. The resolution comes in the wake of the league’s decision to cancel Monday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, after Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest in the first quarter. In a statement released on Thursday night, the NFL noted that the proposal to be considered considered the following key factors. First, canceling the Bills-Bengals game would not impact what teams qualified for the postseason. The only ramifications from canceling the game impact seeding, and the AFC North title. Second, rescheduling that game would require pushing back the playoffs one week, impacting all teams that qualify for the postseason. Third, reaching a resolution prior to the start of Week 18 is “consistent” with the league’s competitive principles, and allows all teams to know the possibilities before their final game of the regular season. The proposal to be considered addresses two elements: The AFC Championship Game, and the AFC North division title.

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